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Sunday, October 30, 2011

It's being billed as television's most expensive series ever made andeverything about this show is B-I-G.

Before filming of its two-hour pilot episode even began, "Terra Nova"had already racked up $10 million in costs. The pilot alone isestimated to have cost somewhere up to $20 million.

Subsequent episodes are being budgeted at $4 million each. The lasttime any pilot was this expensive was the multiple Emmy Award-winning"Boardwalk Empire" directed by Martin Scorsese, which cost $18 millionback in 2009.

Helmed by none other as Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg,"Terra Nova" is a cross between "Avatar", "Jurassic Park" and"Stargate".

The premise of the 13-episode series is simple: In the year 2149,Earth has been so completely polluted that humans have to breathethrough an air filter.

In an attempt to "reboot" human history, mankind's only hope forsurvival is to travel 85 million years back in time to a colony called"Terra Nova"and where dinosaurs still reign supreme.

The show's central character is ex-cop Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara), adevoted father with a chequered past, who is forced to guide hisfamily through this new world of limitless beauty, mystery and terror.

Adding intrigue to the show is the presence of a splinter group ofcolonists with a secret agenda.

However, critical reception to the show's U.S. debut has been mixed.

Some have lauded the series' big-budget cinematography as gorgeous andthe CGI of the dinosaurs, in particular, as visually stunning. Theyalso praise its Hollywood movie-like production values, calling theshow "literally the biggest thing on TV this fall."

Other critics, however, were not so kind, saying the series' mainfault lies in the cheesy, corny script between the characters.

Regardless, whether the series will be renewed for a second season,only time will tell: it's either going to be a mega-expensive flop ora ball-out-of-the-park, smashing success.

The TV series was picked up straight to series with a 13-episode orderand will premiere in Singapore on 29 October at 8.55pm on FOX (StarHubChannel 505) and FOX HD (StarHub Ch 558).